Warren and Washington counties -- among many others -- earned an "F" on
a recent report card on women's progress in New York county legislatures,
conducted by the University of Rochester.

The grades, developed by
the Susan B. Anthony Center for Women's Leadership, were based on a survey
comparing the number of women in local elected offices (at the county
level) in 2002 and 2006. Warren County has no female officials, while
Washington County's leadership staff is just 17 percent female. (Saratoga
County, which had 21 percent, received a C+ in the grading
system.)

However, local officials pointed out that -- in this area
at least -- women occupy a number of important political leadership
positions not counted in the study. Among them: State Sen. Elizabeth
Little, R-Queensbury; Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan;
Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward, R-Willsboro; Saratoga Springs Mayor Valerie
Keehn; and U.S. Rep.-elect Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Greenport.

Nora
Bredes, director of the center, said the study only examined the county
level of government because it would have been too time-intensive to
examine all forms of local government, and because the county provides a
critical pipeline to other levels.

"We are ranked 67th in the world
for our women's share of representation in the national legislature,"
Bredes said. "We're ranked behind Afghanistan and Iraq."

Bredes said counties were also examined because they typically deal
with state officials, which means they can have some impact on social
service issues and law enforcement issues like domestic violence, child
support enforcement and foster care.

JoAnn Trinkle, Cambridge town
supervisor and chairwoman of the Washington County Board of Supervisors,
laughed when she heard the results of the study.

"We're getting
there," said Trinkle, "and I think in the last five or six years
Washington County has gained considerably. We have a woman chairing the
Board of Supervisors, and three other women on the board, and that was
unheard of 10 years ago."

Sayward, who has been involved with
various groups trying to increase female representation and involvement in
government, said she wasn't surprised by the results of the study at
all.

"We do need more women to get involved in politics," Sayward
said. "I'm not saying that women make better politicians than men -- it's
just that we add some diversity."

Bredes said the center's main concern is that women have not yet
reached "critical mass" in local governments.

In 2002, 16.6 percent
of county legislature positions were held by women in the state of New
York.

That percentage has not changed noticeably in four years (it
is now 17.4 percent), which Bredes said is worrying.

The "critical
mass" to which she refers is the statistical notion that when a group is
represented as roughly 35 percent of the population, it reaches a point
where its interests are reflected in discourse.

At just over a
third of a population, groups are shown to support each other's beliefs
and values, and effect change.

"It doesn't matter what the group is," Bredes said. "If you have one
lawyer in a group full of nursery school teachers, the lawyer's teachings
and values probably will not be reflected in the conversation.
Institutions have been run by men for hundreds of years, and the rules and
behaviors have been ruled by a man's mindset."

Sayward agreed,
saying she believes women are made differently, and that difference has
meaning.

"I think we think about things differently," Sayward said.
"We think about things in longer term. We think about families' issues. I
think sometimes we multitask better, and I think many times women come
into a situation with a more open mind."

But Trinkle said she
doesn't think adding more women would influence the issues that are dealt
with or raised by the board.

"That really doesn't have an influence
on it," Trinkle said. "I do think that women have a different outlook on
things, but that's common knowledge."

In the end, though, Bredes conceded the main point of the study was to
prompt people to consider the simple fact that women make up 53 percent of
the state's voting population, but only 17 percent of the seats occupied
in county legislatures.

"We don't have all the answers -- we have
theories," Bredes said.

"But I think it's important for people to
ask, in Warren County, why no women serve in the county legislature."